


Command me to be well

by TempusFrangit0114



Category: Ready or Not (2019)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alex is a prick anyway, Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, How to get over a break up: A guide by Daniel and Grace, Mentioned Charity, Mentioned Le Domas family, Past Child Abuse, Past Infidelity, the curse doesn't exist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:48:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22990489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TempusFrangit0114/pseuds/TempusFrangit0114
Summary: Alex promised her a family and love, and she thought he might be different. But when she thought about it more, she realized she really didn't know him at all.
Relationships: Daniel Le Domas/Grace Le Domas
Comments: 19
Kudos: 221





	Command me to be well

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Dreamsparkle for taking the time to beta this, you're amazing ♥️  
> I hope you'll enjoy this!

Alex left her apartment at around 10pm, after finally collecting the last of his belongings. After a twelve month, happy and healthy, relationship, he had started to distance himself from her. At the beginning she thought it was normal. After all he had a job to attend to (despite not really needing it; his family was rich) and sometimes he was tired. But then he started to post photos of him going out with his friends, instead of working as he had told her, and she finally had to ask him about them. And just like that, he told her that he had met someone else and that he had been trying to break up with her since two months ago. 

She refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Instead she left his apartment and ignored him for three days until she calmed down. Her friends tried to cheer her up but the truth was that she was heartbroken. Alex promised her a family and love, and she thought he might be different. But when she thought about it more, she realized she really didn't know him at all. 

He was with her almost everyday, during the start of their relationship. She knew how he liked his coffee, she knew how to make him laugh, and she knew what he liked, but she barely knew anything about his friends, his work and his family. One time he introduced his older brother to her, a handsome alcoholic that sounded like a bit of a womanizer. And it also sounded like he might be more willing to be open about his childhood than Alex was, but in the end even Daniel was vague about their family. 

As her brain was being filled with the same ideas she had already over thought a hundred times before, she used this new time alone to get a well deserved bath. After all, it was a Friday and she had the entire weekend in front of her to escape from the stress of the office. It wasn't the best job ever, to be a secretary to an asshole, but it sure helped to pay her bills. 

She used to always long for the weekend; to go out to a local bar with Alex, drink something nice and return to her warm apartment with him to add another day to their bone-a-thon. But now she could enjoy doing other things by herself again. Like watching anything Netflix would recommend to her, and taking new photos for her photography instagram. 

Ever since she was young she treasured her me-times. She thought the reason behind this was because she was with so many foster families, so many schools, and so many people she didn't have time to be really close to anyone, and the only constant in her life was herself. And now she was enjoying some relaxing music and the bath-bomb she bought especially for a moment like this. 

Her eyes were getting heavy when suddenly the slow music on her phone was replaced with her horrible ringtone, and when she saw it was from a private number, she was hoping it wasn't her boss with a work emergency (which happened unfairly often, because he was the type of man who prefered asking things of others instead of searching for things himself). She dried one of her hands, to stretch and grab her phone. Wow, it was two in the morning already!

"Hello?" She answered.

"Hello, Miss. Sorry to bother you at such an early hour." A male voice said on the other side of the line. Not her boss.

"It's alright, I was awake...who's this?" 

"I'm from the bar, Le Bail's Box. I was calling because Mr. Le Domas mentioned you and I retrieved your number from his phone. He's not able to drive at the moment, so I was hoping you could pick him up?" 

"A bar?" Alex left her to get wasted in a bar? Maybe he was sad after all? "It's alright. Can you give me the address and I will be there as soon as possible? Thanks"

And so her relaxing night was suddenly interrupted and now she was in her car, hair still wet and making her extra cold, only to drive to pick up her ex from his "busy night". She called his phone a few times to see if he was okay, but it went directly to voicemail each time which alarmed her a little.

After a twenty minutes drive she was finally in front of the bar. It looked fancy. Maybe a little too fancy for her last minute outfit of jeans, boots and black tank top. She saw a vallet in front of the place, so instead she parked in front of it, she wasn't planning on staying too long after all. She had never felt comfortable in fancy places, she always felt out of place, so before trying luck, she took a deep breath. 

Inside it looked more expensive than outside. Old pompous men in suits and young girls in ridiculously tight dresses, who were with them, were looking at her oddly. Grab Alex and leave, grab Alex and leave… she recited to herself.

"Hello?" She said as she approached the counter. 

"How can I help you, miss?" The man behind the bar asked her, scanning her from head to toe and probably thinking about calling security. 

"I'm Alex Le Domas friend, someone called me to pick him up" 

"Le Domas? Oh, you must be Grace. He talked for quite awhile about you." He said with a smile. "He's right there in the corner." 

That man didn't look like Alex? His hair was black, he looked a little bit shorter but bigger at the same time. And at that moment she became aware she had to deal with yet another Le Domas. Fucking amazing.

"Oh, there's been a mistake, he's not my friend he's..." Daniel stretched out his arm to fumble for his glass again. It was too pitiful a sight. "Ugh, nevermind. Daniel!" 

"Grace?" He muttered, squinting his eyes when she approached him. 

"In the flesh." He stood up, clumsily and quickly. She had to look up, to look at his face, as he grabbed one of her cheeks. 

"Wow, it's true. I thought you were a very vivid wet dream for a moment there." Grace gave that comment the fake laugh it deserved as she took his hand away from her cheek.

"Keep your charm where I can't see it, and your hands where I can." She bantered back. 

She was used to this. Ever since she met him, six months ago. It was always the same with Daniel: the drunkenness, the fake flirting and some smart tease back. A standing joke between the two of them and a way to mess with Alex as well. She had almost the same sense of humor and Daniel was cute, so she didn't mind.

"Oh! Where are my manners? Can I get you a drink?" Daniel offered, already walking with difficulty to the counter.

"I think you bought the whole store, there. It's time to go home." He looked like he was just going to fall in the spot, so she tried to grab him and keep him up, passing one of his arms around her neck and hauling him by the waist. She was hoping he wasn't as drunk as he looked because in that case they were both going to end up on the floor. 

"Are you going to take me home? Well, this night might end better than I expected." He chucked, leaning over her. "Why is your hair wet? Is it raining?"

"No, you just interrupted my very relaxing bath." She replied, voice strained. God, he is heavy. 

"Oh, so that's the reason why you smell like roses. Very nice detail." He got close to her hair to sniff her. 

"Fuck, stop it, you weirdo. You're going to make me drop you" Grace laughed, while finally exiting the bar.

After a lot of struggling to get Daniel to cross the street, she finally got him into the passenger side. Now she only had to put his address on her phone, drop him at his house, and she could return to her comfortable bed. 

The last time she and Alex visited Daniel, he warned her to be careful with his brother because he was going through a divorce. That was probably the reason he was wasted on her passenger seat, but she wasn't going to ask. 

"Hey, do you have your camera here?" Daniel asked after some minutes of silence. 

"No, why?" 

"Your photographs are always very authentic; of sweet and really emotional things. So maybe you could take a picture of me right now and maybe you can title it 'human decency' or 'this is how life hits you'. That could be fun" He whispered, curled up on the seat, looking at her. 

"Shit, you're right! Why didn't I think about it before?" She teased. She glanced back at him. "How do you know so much about my photos, anyway? Have you been stalking me?" 

"Yup. It's my porn" 

"Fuck off!" 

But they were both smiling. Which was an achievement of itself.

\---

As part of his recent divorce, Daniel was now living in a bachelor apartment. He could admit to himself that when Charity gave him the divorce papers he had felt happy and relieved. But the second part of it… when she told him she was leaving him for Alex, he felt like he could throw up. 

And that hadn't gotten any better with time. Now that Charity wasn't around to bother him all the time, he was just alone with his own thoughts. When he was seated on his couch, trying to watch a movie, his mind would play in repeat every bad memory in his repertoire. The endless nights his parents spent fighting, leaving him to distract Alex and Emilie from hearing them. Or how his parents would make him feel like shit about anything and everything. Or how big of a mess his adolescence was. Or how Alex was begging him to forgive him for fucking his wife and how he hugged him and told him everything was alright. 

Sometimes the thoughts drown him, in a dark endless hole, from time to time he would feel like he was swimming to the light, just to discover he got caught in the middle. Sometimes he felt like he was free falling. Sometimes he felt sick, but after all, weren't they all a bit sick. And that which scared him the most; the nights he felt nothing. He would wander around his apartment, put on a tv show and not really be watching it. Those times were hard, because he would feel devastatingly disconnected with reality. Not really living it, just doing everything on auto pilot, only driven by inertia. 

Only two things were able to help him when he felt like that. 

There was option A: Getting to hang out with Grace and Alex, the two people closest to him…

Sadly no longer an option since the big reveal.

And option B: Alcohol, who was always there for him.

He didn't remember how this night started. He had memories of watching Knives Out and feeling disgust towards arrogant rich people. Thinking about his own fucked up family of soulless rich assholes, and leaving to his favorite bar to drown out those depressing thoughts. 

After a few drinks, his mouth might got a little loose, making him talk marvelous things about his brother's ex, and how funny, beautiful and smart she was, and how dumb his brother was for letting her go for Charity. Which he knew was pathetic, but he couldn't avoid it. He spent most of his life avoiding girls like Grace, mostly to save himself from the rejection after they really got to know him. And now Grace was there, standing in front of him. Literally, when did she turn up? She looked tired, and a little bit sad, but she put on a smile anyway when they talked.

And now he was in her car, hearing stories behind the pictures she posted, and he felt even more pathetic for feeling joy. Of the mixture of nervousness and excitement turning his stomach, making him feel like a hormonal teenager. This felt so domestic, so normal, and it helped to keep the voice inside of his head silent, replacing it with a story of how mesmerising Grace almost got arrested because she was taking photos during a protest, and he adored all of it. 

Maybe it hadn't just been excitement turning his stomach afterall, because now he was inside his apartment, puking on the toilet, and Grace was patting his back. 

Once he was finished, she helped him up, guiding him, first to the sink to wash his mouth, and then to his bed. He fell into it like a dead body, getting as comfortable as he could. 

Meanwhile, Grace went to his kitchen to get some water. And she couldn't avoid noticing the fact that the only picture he had from his family was a small portrait of Alex, their other sister, and him when they were young. Grace smiled at it, she barely had memories of her childhood. She also noticed the photo was messily cut with scissors, just to leave the three kids on it, but she could see the edges of two adults standing in the back, probably their parents. Why did Daniel feel the need to cut them out? 

Leaving the photo, she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, and returned to him. 

"Here, drink this" She said, handing him the bottle, and while he took a sip of it, she took his shoes off. 

"I'm a little big to have a babysitter who tucks me into bed, you know?" He said before taking another sip. 

"Then why did I just have to carry you to the said bed?" Grace said with a pointed raised eyebrow.

"Touché" Daniel beamed. He looked very young right then. Pressing back into the pillows but smiling like she was fun to talk to. He made her feel very young too, having to resist the temptation to tug on his curls, playfully. To keep him awake and talking to her.

But it was not to be as his eyes slid shut.

She stood there until she was sure he was asleep, which was confirmed with some soft snoring coming out of his mouth. She stifled her laugh and left the room, turning off the lights behind her. 

Her job was done. Daniel was now in the safety of his house, comfortable and warm in his bed. And now she was exhausted, fighting to keep her eyes open as she checked her phone. 4am? Time sure flies. 

It was pretty late, and she didn't feel up to driving home, so she took the liberty of crashing on Daniel's sofa. After all, he owed her one now. His couch was even more comfortable than her own bed and she was soon out like a light

\---

A very loud bang of metal woke him up, clearly a deliberate sound and the noise was like a stabbing in his brain. It took him a whole minute to realize he was in his bedroom, and it took him another minute to realize Grace was at his door frame with a frying pan in one hand and a spatula in the other, looking really amused by his confusion. 

"Shit, you're a public menace" Daniel said with a hoarse voice, cleaning the drool he had in one side of his mouth. He held his head, wishing the world would stop spinning.

Grace looked smug. "Good morning to you, Grace! Thank you very much for leaving the peace and calm of your lovely home in the middle of the night to carry my drunk ass to my house, it was very kind on your part. You're stronger than you look by the way. How are you? Did you sleep here?" She said in a gruff deep tone, and then she changed to her normal tone to answer "Good morning to you too, Daniel. Oh, thank you, it was actually really nice of me indeed. I'm good. I slept on your couch; _very_ comfortable by the way. And now, because I'm amazing and also hungry, I'm cooking breakfast for the two of us, so if the Sleeping Beauty has finished sleeping, I'll be waiting in the kitchen. You have pills for your headache on the side table." 

Before he could even answer, she left for the kitchen again. He flopped backwards with a groan. Besides the rude awakening aside, it was quite a nice way to wake up, but he also felt more than a little embarrassed for having her pick him up in that state. He took two of the pills she left him, and headed to the bathroom to wash his face. 

He took a minute to look at himself in the mirror and mutter a little "asshole" before meeting her in the kitchen. 

She was leaning against his counter, checking her phone and eating an omelette that looked delicious even to him and his queasy stomach. It was surreal and too pure to see. He wished he could wake up to that sight daily, but he put those thoughts aside when he sat at the table in front of her. 

"Thank you for dragging my sorry ass back here, Grace." He acknowledged chastised.

"No problem, it was good exercise. I can already feel my biceps getting bigger." She teased mercilessly. 

She placed her phone aside to assess his state. But it wasn't what she expected. 

_How does someone who just puked his guts up five hours ago, and was still horribly hungover get to still look so good in the morning?_

Still pondering the mystery, she asked, "How are you feeling?" 

"Like hell" He took a big sip of water, looking at his omelette like it was a challenge "Did I interrupt something last night?" 

"Just a very relaxing bath." 

"Well, we could have a relaxing bath together later to make up for that." He said before taking a bite of the food Grace had made.

"Tempting." But she laughed it away. 

They eat in silence. A comfortable one, fortunately. Exchanging dumb jokes from time to time, and with her telling him what happened last night, taking all the opportunities she had to mess with him. After some minutes of that, her phone rang. 

"Shit…" She was looking at her phone screen like it just spitted on her food. 

"Who's that?" Daniel said arching a brow. 

"Alex…" She took a deep breath before getting up the table. "Sorry, I have to pick up." 

"Sure, no problem. Tell him I say hi." He teases to inspire her ire as she walked to his balcony. 

The air of the morning was cold against her skin. Inside, Daniel stared at his empty plate, playing with his fork, thinking about how good his brother's timing always was.

"Hello, Alex" Her tone sounded harder than usual. 

"Hi, Grace. I got three missed calls from you last night, Is everything ok?" His tone sounded genuinely worried, and she hated him for that. 

"Yeah, I just got confused. Sorry about it" 

"Don't worry. I was actually glad you called... I know that you don't owe me any leniency and that you probably hate me. But I'm going to be honest with you, you are one of my closest friends and I really appreciate you. You made me so happy, and you make me want to be better." Grace was biting her lip to hold back a bitter laugh. Alex continued, unknowingly, "Listen, I got in a fight with someone I thought was very important to me, and I could really use some company now. So what do you say, sweetie? Can I go to your place?" 

The idea that Alex imagined she would crawl back to him whenever he feigned interest made her want to spit all the insults she had in her repertoire at him until she'd screamed herself hoarse but instead, she took a deep breath and calmed herself. 

"I'm sorry to hear that...but I'm actually busy right now. Terribly sorry and good luck with that." She said in a very cheerful tone. "Oh, and Daniel says hi." 

"Wha---" And she hung up with a satisfied smirk.

That was exactly what she needed to start her day. After some minutes of enjoying the air and feeling free, she returned inside. 

"You won't believe what just happened?" Grace said sitting in front of Daniel again. 

"You're back together?" He felt actually scared of her answer if not a little resigned. 

"Fuck no." Grace said with enthusiasm and Daniel could breathe again. "He called me to tell me how he got in a fight with his new girlfriend and how he needed me close to him right now because he really appreciates me." 

At one point he'd admired his little brother to the point of hero worship. Lately the things he had been learning made him question whether he had known his brother at all. "Wow," Daniel breathed. "That's pathetic." He didn't like insulting his brother even now but that was pretty much the truth after what Grace had just said.

"I know, right?" She said laughing before taking a sip of her coffee. 

"Well, he should get used to her being a pain in the ass." He said casually as he checked his own phone. "He's sending me a lot of messages." He continued bewildered. 

"I told him you said hi. Like you asked." She furrowed her brows at him. "Wait, do you know her?"

"He didn't tell you?" He couldn't believe Alex even hid that from her. 

"What?" 

"She was my wife...well, now ex." 

Grace felt her draw drop. She started, incredulously, at him, half waiting for him to admit he was joking. He didn't...

"What?! That piece of shit!" Daniel snorted at her inelegance. "No wonder you got wasted last night. Fuck, that pretentious prick!" 

"Oh, no. Charity has nothing to do with last night." He reassured her. "She only married me for the money, and I married her to piss off my parents. Last night was just a mix of childhood traumas and the realization that my beloved little brother cared so little. But, hey, at least the next family dinner will be interesting." 

At that moment she thought about the crop in that photo that left his parents out and how both brothers avoided talking about them. She knew a little about that. After all, her biological parents weren't the best. But that was a deep and depressing talk waiting to happen and she decided to leave it for another day. For now she wanted some distraction.

"You want to hang out later on? I think we both deserve it." She said after a moment of awkward silence. 

She watched as some of the weight on Daniel lifted as he smiled gratefully.

"Well, you know I can't say no to that." And for all he was teasing, his tone rang true.

\---

Once Grace left, Daniel checked the multiple messages Alex had left. They varied a lot from each other, going from "Hello, Daniel. How are you?" to "Why aren't you replying?", "Why are you with Grace?" "Answer me!" and Daniel's personal favorite "Who the fuck do you think you are?". After scoffing to himself, he texted Grace and then he put his phone away to mentally prepare himself for taking her brother's ex to a fancy restaurant. He would lie if he said he wasn't excited. 

Simultaneously, Grace was just arriving back at her apartment. She glanced over Daniel's messages telling her he was going to pick her up at eight. She didn't even bother to open Alex frenetic texts and she went directly to her friends group chat to tell them the news, just to receive a lot of messages telling her what an asshole Alex was and that she was a lucky bitch because Daniel was a total hunk. 

\---

She wasn't blind, she knew Daniel was handsome, but when she was with Alex it was weird for her to think that. Now it was different. Not only had Alex betrayed them both but she had confirmed what she had previously only assumed. That she and Daniel had chemistry. Besides, in thirteen hours she was convinced she knew him better than she did with Alex in twelve months. 

After breakfast, Daniel had told her the truth. How her father had cheated on their mother with the "maids" (who weren't actually maids but women he met when he went out at night), and how that made their relationship really toxic; as they got into fights daily. 

As a big brother, he tried to keep Alex and Emilie away from all that, distracting them and getting them out of the house when the shouting started. But that also made him loathe his father, made him desire to be an absolute pain in the ass for the man, which made him the new target of his father's anger. He successfully got Alex out of the house, hoping he would be a better man than himself and their father. But he and his sister stayed, which wasn't the best choice for either of their mental health. 

Then, later, after all that, he met the aspirational Charity; who was all in just for the money and didn't seem to care how damaged he actually was. He had hoped it would be a win-win. 

Grace, on her side of things, shared a little of her own experience with the matter. How her biological parents were abusive to her, calling her names, and occasionally hitting her when she was "disobedient". Until the day she spoke about it with one of her most trustworthy teachers when she was just thirteen. And since then and until she turned eighteen she passed through fourteen different foster families, who were good to her. But, unfortunately, she never had the time to adapt to any of them. She was hoping Alex was going to be her family, her one constant. But that just blew up in her face spectacularly.

Now she was in front of her mirror, wearing her nicest dress and putting on lipgloss, and making time until Daniel arrives. She felt nervous, even if it was just Daniel. Was this a date? It felt like one, and she texted that to their friends, who told her to stop overthinking and to enjoy herself. While she was imbibing some liquid courage for herself with a shot of cheap vodka she saved for special occasions, her doorbell rang. 

"I'll be down in a second." She answered through the intercom, not giving him the chance to reply. 

Downstairs Daniel was muttering a little "okay" to himself, while waiting at the door. He took a very necessary shower, and he was also wearing the nicest suit he found in his closet. Talking, joking, and just being with Grace was easy, it felt right, and he liked the feeling of comfort they had, like they had known each other before. But now he couldn't avoid feeling a little nervous. This felt different, not in a bad way but in a "maybe I'll screw this up" kind of way. But just in time when he was starting to overthink it, Grace came out of the door, looking more stunning than usual. 

"Hey, you look beautiful." _Good job Daniel, what a cheesy greeting._

"Thanks, you too" _Really?_

"Oh, thank you. I was really going for a beautiful look." He offered her his arm. 

"Shut up, let's go" She said grabbing it, walking with him to his car. 

The drive to the restaurant was kind of weird, not in a bad way but in a "shit maybe this is a date" way. Both of them felt a change in the air around them, but they didn't want to point it out, and they just shared anecdotes about their worst hangover. 

Once they arrived at the restaurant, it looked as fancy as something Grace thought he would pick. It was called "Loyalty" because Daniel thought it was a nice touch of irony for the night, making Grace laugh. 

The food was great but the wine was even better (She didn't know a lot about that, so she let him pick), and by the time they had reached dessert they had already had three bottles between them. And thanks to that, things were less tense. She learnt that Daniel liked to draw and paint, but his family didn't really support him on that, and she shared with him that she would like to be a full time photographer instead of a secretary. And while she was sharing a really passionate speech of how she got her first camera, her phone rang. 

"Fuck, why doesn't he give it a break?" She said before putting her phone in silent. 

"Alex?" Daniel asked. She nodded. Daniel's mouth twisted wryly. "Yeah, he has been texting me all evening as well. I had to turn my phone off." 

"I read some of the _things_ he sent to me and I had to resist the urge to call him and shout if he was fucking kidding me, he can't really be fucking serious, he's such a---" 

"No!" 

"What?" 

"We came here to enjoy ourselves, we can talk about that later. For now, we're going to dance." He said standing up. 

"Sorry, what?" She answered chuckling as he was adjusting his tie.

"We're going to dance, babe." He answered with a grin on his face, extending his hand to her.

"What are we? 40 year olds?" She knew he was actually that age, so she didn't miss the opportunity to tease him, as she grabbed his hand. 

"Fuck you. Respect your elders." He put on an exaggerated outraged tone.

They walked onto the dancefloor, where only elderly couples were dancing. The band was playing an instrumental version of "Love me tender", and it all felt awfully romantic. Suddenly Grace became really aware of his hands, gentle, on her waist. and his brown eyes looking sweetly at her as she was looking at the band. She met his eyes and smiled, and he looked like he could melt on the spot. 

"While I was getting ready," Grace started. "I remembered something the bartender told me when I was looking for you at the bar, yesterday." 

"Yeah? And what was that?" 

"He said you were talking about me, _all night_." She put an emphasis on the last bit, just to mess with him. 

"I'm sure he was exaggerating." Daniel said smoothly. Grace laughed, but neither of them looked away. "But I might have mentioned something about how stupid Alex was to leave you for Charity, and that I may have liked you abit because you were the only person who didn't look at me like I am a total failure." 

"Oh, so you like me?" She said, trying to ignore the way her heart was beating. 

"Just a tiny bit... maybe. Don't let it go to your head." She knew he was distracted by her lips, but she didn't know at what point she dived in to kiss him. He was eager to kiss her back. It was soft, and shorter than he would have wanted, but when she pulled away, she stayed close. And that was worth more.

"Maybe tonight I could be the one to carry you home. You know, to give your back a rest..." Daniel asked. She chuckled, and he thought about how he could get used to this... to them, all too easily.

"Maybe" Grace agreed and she didn't sound like she was teasing for once.

  
  
  



End file.
